Car suddenly loses power on highway

LEOGBROWN

MEMBER
2013 NISSAN MURANO
2.0L
4 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
25,000 MILES

My car is actually Nissan Qashqai (made in the UK) but I understand the nearest match is the Murano on this website.

Bought the car brand new and it has performed excellently for three years then suddenly one day it could not overtake another car on the highway.

Even when the accelerator is floored the engine rpm swings to a maximum of about 2500 rpm but the car does not accelerate.
Even any small hill or incline is a challenge.
My worst experience was at a traffic light when it could not accelerate after the light turned green and other vehicles were behind me!

I took the car to the Nissan dealers workshop for regular service but they did not find anything wrong.
There was no computer error code displayed according to them.

The strange thing is that after parking the car on the shoulder of the highway for about thirty minutes, the problem seem to have gone. But after some time it reoccurs.

I cleaned the MAF sensor and it had no effect.
The car always starts without any hesitation and it never stalls or shuts off completely when the problem occurs. It only loses acceleration.

The problem appears after the car has bee working fine on the road for about ninety minutes.

I will like to solve this problem myself as a DIY enthusiast.
One of the tools I have is the Autel AutoLink AL519 OBDII EOBD & CAN Scan.

Any step-by step diagnosis will be greatly appreciated.

5 Replies

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,513 POSTS

Hello,

We have seen this problem before. The car goes into limp mode until the PCM is reset. This is usually because the throttle bore is dirty and needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Please disconnect the battery before you begin. Here is a guide to help you:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/throttle-actuator-service

Please run down this guide and report back.

Cheers, Ken

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Tuesday, July 31st, 2018 AT 12:24 PM

LEOGBROWN

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hi Ken,
Many thanks for your quick response to my engine losing acceleration problem.
I am currently on vacation in Wales (United Kingdom) and will do as advised when I am back home later this month, then report back to you on the status.

Best Wishes,

Leo G Brown

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Wednesday, August 1st, 2018 AT 3:09 AM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,513 POSTS

Please do. :)

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Wednesday, August 1st, 2018 AT 4:13 PM

LEOGBROWN

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hello Ken,

Apologies for my late response.
A local Nissan mechanic suggested that the problem with my Nissan Qashqai was the catalytic converter. To cut a long story short, they removed my catalytic converters by breaking them into small pieces and left my exhaust system open to the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the cars performance became worse!
I called a friend who is an auto electrician and we both decided to check out the fuel pump.
We removed the car's back seat and gained access to the cover plate covering fuel pump assembly (within fifteen minutes we brought the pump assembly out).
We found a deposit of contaminated muddy fuel at the bottom of the fuel tank and pump. This is what has been clogging the strainer (inlet) to the fuel pump and causing the engine to lose power during acceleration.

What I did:
Drained the fuel tank and cleaned off the muddy sludge.
Cleaned the strainer thoroughly with a stiff brush and gasoline.
Cleaned the pump and assembly (carefully).
Then reinstalled strainer and pump assembly, and filled with fresh gasoline.
Problem solved at last (but after destroying the very expensive catalytic converter that was still new!).

The car has been performing well and there is no more engine hesitation or loss of power or lack of acceleration experience any more.
Please check out the pictures below for what was causing my problem.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Images (Click to make bigger)